In the 2024 season, Deion Sanders proved what dedication is. And who deserves the kudos for revealing this version of the Colorado Buffaloes head coach? Obviously, their favorite 5-star quarterback, Julian “JuJu” Lewis. After the big chase, Deion could finally woo Lewis, who then flipped his commitment from USC to Boulder. Until now, the 17-year-old was still living inside a bubble. But the D-Day is here. As Lewis hits the milestone to spread his wings and fly high in college, it comes with a bittersweet feeling. While Lewis got blessed with a ‘freshman’ tag, he will now have to pay a heavy cost by being in a long-distance relationship with his family. But again, when does growth feel comfortable, right?

Talking about wooing your hot recruit? Deion Sanders is the standard that you must reach. After all, the Buffs’ head coach went to great lengths to melt Lewis’ heart. At first, Coach Prime sought the help of the 101-year-old superfan Peggie Coppom to record a video with a heartfelt message for Lewis. The next mission was to spread the player’s name in Boulder, and it came with an Eureka moment. Deion changed one of Boulder’s famous joint’s burger name to JuJu’s Precision Pass Burger in Lewis’ honor. So, it was obvious that the 17-year-old would only like to walk on the red carpet set out by the Buffs. Till now, Lewis has had the privilege of soaking in all the love and attention from the comfort of his home. But the time has come to leave his nest behind. 

Lewis, who reclassified from the 2026 recruiting class to 2025, gave up his senior year of high school football. On Friday, May 16, the quarterback had his early high school graduation. Wearing his cap and gown, Lewis sent a heartfelt message to his hometown. “Forever grateful Trojan Nation.” As easy as it might sound, things are a bit sensitive. He will now be more than 800 miles away from his home, from his parents and loved ones. One could sense how strongly Lewis is going to miss Carrollton in a video uploaded on his namesake YouTube channel on May 21. “I mean like everybody says, you just got to soak up the moments. Like I thought I had four years, I had three. No, it flew by. It flew by too fast. Now you’re out in a different state, away from your family. You come back, get to see the bros.”

T.C. Lewis is a proud dad now. Having been a college football player himself, the approval was necessary from his dad. And Deion’s Colorado achieved it. Lewis’ father tweeted after his commitment, “From the bottom of my heart I want to thank every member of the @CUBuffsFootball staff. Your integrity, cohesiveness, and communication are 2nd to none in the nation. We are blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of the Colorado Buff family!” So, he knows that his son is in good hands. With this, the pressure got 2x as Lewis now got to make both his family and Deion’s program proud. It’s surely not going to be an easy task.  

The battle heats up for Julian Lewis in Boulder

Deion helped Lewis get the taste of a special treatment. Now it’s his payback time. The Buffs’ head coach must be fighting a big vacuum with both his sons – Shedeur and Shilo Sanders – hit the NFL road. After walking his sons down the field one last time, Deion poured his heart out. “That’s tough, to know that that’s it, that that walk won’t happen again. That’s tough.” This might have struck a chord in Lewis’ heart, and he made a heartfelt promise.

On December 29, the quarterback posted a picture of the Buffs’ locker room. The picture had the two jerseys hanging side-by-side. One was the Buffs’ QB’s No.2 jersey, and the other was the 5-star recruit’s No.10 jersey. The caption of the post is bound to make you go ‘Aww.’ Lewis wrote, “You left huge shoes to fill, but I promise to work to leave @CUBuffsFootball even better than I found it. Forever grateful 🙏🏽.” But turns out he is not the only one who is willing to bring the moon and stars for Deion.

Here, Julian Lewis’ biggest threat makes an entry. That’s none other than Liberty Flames quarterback Kaidon Salter. Do you remember that one Shedeur Sanders and Julian Lewis photoshoot? The one in which Lewis was seated while the former Buffs quarterback passed him the keys. It captured a ‘passing the baton’ move. Here comes Salter to snatch away the keys. “Shedeur did his thing here, but it’s time for me to come in and do what I got to do,” he promised. Will Deion ride with his favorite, Lewis, or roll the dice on Salter’s perfect scheme fit?